Guide to Grilling Dinner

Everything you need to know to get out and grill dinner this summer!

Guide to Grilling Dinner (+ Grilling Series Starting)

There isn’t anything much better than a warm summer night, friends over, the grill is hot and you have a fun cocktail (or mocktail) in your hand! We want everyone to be fully prepared for grilling season! So today we are diving into ALL things grilling, so you can walk away confident that you can easily master the grill and get delicious grilled dinners on the table - whether it’s on a busy weeknight or a neighborhood cookout. 

We will share our favorite grilling tools, a full cookout menu, easy family dinners, and our EPIC grilled dinner cheat sheet that can be printed as an easy reference to cook times, internal temps, and building your own grilled dinner!

What This Guide Is All About

A basic grilled dinner is my go-to: during the summer our meal plans are filled with things that look like this: grilled bbq chicken + grilled corn + grilled broccoli … and that’s it. No super secret recipe, just a bunch of stuff on the grill! Once you know the basics for internal temps and approx. how long to cook things, you can mix and match with seasonings, sauces and sides! 

My goal with this guide is to increase your confidence in mixing and matching proteins, sauces and sides, so you can throw a grilled meal together any night of the week!

Epic Grilled Dinner Cheat Sheet

Now, let’s walk through the basics and then we have a master cheat sheet that you can print and hang on your refrigerator for easy reference! It will make it so simple to pull together a super easy (& delicious) dinner in a matter of minutes - let’s dive in!

How to Grill Proteins?

How long to grill a main course - first, let’s quickly go over cook times, so you can easily mix and match to create your own meals (note: for the full instructions click over to the printable recipe - this is just a snapshot):

• Salmon Fillet: 1 inch thick fillets; 3-4 minutes per side on medium-high heat; 145 degrees F. internal temp.

• Steak: 1 inch thick; 3-4 mins per side on high heat (sear, then move to indirect heat); 130 degrees F. internal temp. + rest time. 

• Chicken:

  • Boneless Breasts: medium-sized; 4-5 mins per side direct (medium) heat, 5-10 indirect heat; 165 degrees internal temp. 

  • Boneless Thighs: medium-sized; 3-4 mins per side direct (medium) heat; 165 degrees internal temp. 

  • Bone-In Thighs: medium-sized; 4-6 mins per side direct (medium) heat; 165 degrees internal temp. 

• Pork Chops: 1 inch thick chops; 5-7 mins per side direct (medium) heat; 140 degrees internal temp.

• Pork Tenderloin: 1.5 pound tenderloin; direct (medium) heat for 3 minutes, turn 90 degrees and cook 3-4 minutes; continue rotating until it reaches 140 degrees internal temp at the thickest part.

• Brats: rotate every 5 minutes over direct (medium/low heat); 160 degrees internal temp.

• Hot Dogs: 5-7 mins total over direct (medium) heat; rotate every couple minutes.

• Burgers: 3-4 mins over direct (medium) heat; flip; cook to 135-145 degrees internal temp (medium-rare center). Medium: 8 total minutes; Medium-Well: 10 total mins.

Note: be sure to have a good meat thermometer!

Note: in order to avoid dried out meat - let the meat REST! As they rest after cooking, the internal temp will continue to rise. SO, I generally look at the recommended internal temp and pull the protein off the grill when it is about 3 degrees below that recommended temp. During the rest, it will continue to rise upwards of 3-5 degrees.

Sauces - You Always Need One!

Here at The Wooden Skillet we are all about flavor bombs (a.k.a. a good sauce) - so even if you marinate something or use the world's best seasoning .. you gotta have a sauce! Here are some of our favs and what we like to pair them with: